“We have endured this for so long. Beware, when our pride is challenged... Malays are not ones to be challenged or insulted. We take care of this country for all Malaysians, but don’t question our rights,” – Khairy Jamaluddin, circa 2014
The recent attacks against Penang are nothing new. Back in the day, when Gerakan - a party which was part of the BN family - controlled Penang, then Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that the Malays in the state were marginalised.
In other words, a Chinese-dominated Penang administration (even though they were part of Khairy’s coalition) was marginalising Malays.
This prompted then Penang chief minister and Gerakan head honcho Koh Tsu Koon to demand proof from Khairy (above, right) that Malays were marginalised in Penang.
“Don’t just criticise, please give us facts and concrete statistics. Let us work together since we’re all in BN. Let’s do concrete work and have programmes that will promote the development for all, and help the poor irrespective of race,” Koh said.
The fact that Gerakan has now asked Khairy to join them demonstrates how diseased this political landscape is and the reality of non-Malay political subservience to Malay powerbrokers. If the DAP can eat manure and work with Umno, then this is truly the land of endless possibilities.
The thoughtful supremacist
Over the years, Khairy has cultivated - and fairly effectively - the image of the thoughtful considered racial supremacist, attempting to spin toxic ideas like Ketuanan Melayu to Kepimipinan Melayu as he did circa 2009.
“Kompas perjuangan ini akan menggariskan agenda nasionalis kita, yang bukan berteraskan konsep kekuasaan Melayu atau Malay dominance yang sempit, tetapi kepimpinan Melayu atau Malay leadership yang adil dan rahmah.”
(The compass of our struggle will underline our nationalist agenda, which is not based on the narrow definitions of Malay power or Malay dominance, but Kepimpinan Melayu or a Malay leadership that is just and gracious.)
In my article about Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu, I said this of Khairy - “Some folks like to think that Khairy could be a barometer of change. But the reality is that people like KJ (whom I said people should vote for - hey, what can I say, I have no trouble admitting I was wrong) will probably end up as talking heads for people like Faizal in an Islamic state, articulately justifying the malfeasances of political operatives while the mullahs suppress democratic norms and inclinations of the populace.”
Khairy does exactly this. In his propaganda piece attempting to redefine the green wave as a wave of discontent, the key is when he wrote this - Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) social media narrative is also heavily exploiting unease among Malay voters towards the DAP’s presence in the government.
Political parties in the coalition government have failed to counter such narratives (which is ironically the product of years of Umno’s own vilification of the DAP).
First of all, the Malay political establishment which included Khairy, Muhyiddin Yassin, Abdul Hadi Awang, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and the other ketuanan types vilified the DAP for decades.
We know that in Umno’s case - at a time when Khary was at the centre of all this rabble-rousing - all this was done according to none other than former prime minister’s Mahathir’s son, Muhkriz, to deflect from the failings of the racial hegemon.
This is exactly what Khairy is doing now. What a load of horse manure, when Khairy wrote this - “Unlike the rise of PAS in the 1980s and 1990s, PN’s popularity today has more dimensions than merely increased religiosity among Malays. Malays in Malaysia have become more outwardly observant of their religious duties but this does not mean there is a tide of Islamic extremism sweeping through Malaysia.”
The reality is that the rise in religiosity amongst the Malay community is the direct influence and subjugation of a religious bureaucracy and state within the government to control and shape the Malay voting polity.
As I argued many times before and confirmed by PAS political operatives who are still close to me, PAS was playing the long game. While Khairy Jamaluddin was enabling a kleptocracy, the religious state was planting seeds, which are the fruits we now taste.
Keep in mind that this government inherited problems that were created by a coalition that Khairy thinks would be a suitable replacement for this coalition government.
PN’s ceramah are telling
I have no interest in the deep Malay political games going on behind the scenes, but this is what the religious extremists in this country want. They want people like Khairy to characterise the rise of religious extremism as a wave of discontent.
Khairy acknowledges the racial and religious narratives of PN but why is it, if this is really a wave of discontent, PN is not pushing an economic agenda? Why are they not attacking the government on economic issues?
Instead, what they are doing is attacking programmes like Menu Rahmah which is an economic policy (whether you agree with it or not) and attempting to cast everything in a religious context.
Indeed, from PN stars like Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to PAS president Hadi, everything is predicated on the kind of strategies employed by Khairy when he was riding high in Umno.
The fact is that Khairy wants people to believe that this is a wave of discontent because the truth that Malaysia is going to become a theocracy either by the hands of this Madani government or PN, is a bitter pill to swallow for rational voters.
You have to ask yourselves, why Khairy would claim that there is a lack of economic direction but he does not bring forth any evidence from the PN side to support this argument.
Indeed, what he rehashes are PN’s talking points about being a cleaner alternative and the fact that the Malays are fearful of losing political control to the Chinese community.
If the Malays had a palpable anger towards Umno’s corruption, then why do the religious narratives of Hadi et all tell the Malays that it is better to be led by corrupt Muslim leaders than honest non-Muslim leaders?
Why is it that PN’s ceramah are dominated by narratives that the Chinese are seizing political control and that the status of Islam and the royalty are being threatened when PAS has no problem disobeying the former?
And why claim that only Malays are feeling this economic discontent and anger at corruption?
Of course, there are economic concerns but the non-Malays are voting against PN because they fear a theocratic state while supporters of PN are voting for the coalition because they embrace a theocratic state.
These state elections are not about economic issues but rather a reckoning on race and religion, which was a long time coming.
The fact is that PN wants the Malays to be “pak turut” and turn this country into a theocratic state. The fact is, this Madani government is enabling the creation of a theocratic state.
The fact is, that working-class Malays are in direct economic competition with Muslim refugees and immigrants.
The fact is, that the deplorable class inequalities suffered by the disenfranchised majority after years of racial and religious rule are coming to a head.
All this is the real narrative that people like KJ want to bury.
Khairy can surf the green wave for so long before he suffers a wipeout. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.